When you grow up on a farm in the shadow of the Jolly Green Giant, you can’t help but think that size matters when it comes to success in agriculture. Josh Reinitz’s family’s land sits between Minneapolis and Mankato, just a few miles from where a wooden likeness of the Green One and his apprentice… Read More →
While leading a group of natural resource professionals through one of his dairy pastures one early fall day, Martin Jaus made it crystal clear he farms the land for more than a milk check. “Every day we see something that just amazes us,” he said with a smile. “One day I was making hay and… Read More →
The landowners Jeremy and Jessica Holst rent from like to see a green landscape — no wonder the dairy farmers’ rotational grazing system is considered a neighborhood asset. More Information • LSP’s Soil Health & Grazing Web Page • LSP’s Conservation Leases Toolkit • LSP’s 2023 Field Day Special Report: “A Long, Hot Summer” You can find… Read More →
Staff from the Land Stewardship Project’s Bridge to Soil Health Program have been getting out and visiting farms the past few months. These visits are primarily to: network and meet with farmers in our Soil Builders’ Network, see what practices people are trying out on the landscape, determine what farmers want more information on, and… Read More →
I got a call from a colleague this morning asking how I was dealing with the corona virus pandemic and I said I was feeling grateful. Grateful to live in a rural area where my primary activity outside of working for the Land Stewardship Project is goofing around outside collecting firewood and going for long… Read More →
NOTE: John Meyer, his wife Linda and their two youngest children, Charlie and Maggie, farm about 500 acres in southwestern Olmsted County, Minn. John planted his first oat cover crop in early spring of 2016 on half his land — on frozen ground and through snow — and planted corn directly into that “green,” allowing… Read More →
ELGIN, Minn. — Beginning farmers looking for land and retiring farmers seeking next-generation farmers are encouraged to attend a special Land Stewardship Project workshop on Saturday, March 25, from 9:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at Peace United Methodist Church (52497 275th Ave.), in Elgin. “LSP’s Networking Farming Generations: Beginning with Hope, Retiring with Security” is… Read More →
ELGIN, Minn. — Beginning farmers looking for land are encouraged to attend a special Land Stewardship Project (LSP) workshop on Saturday, March 4, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Peace United Methodist Church (52497 275th Ave.), in Elgin. LSP’s “Beginning Farmer Land Access Workshop: Assessing Risks, Affordability and Land Access Options” is for aspiring… Read More →
Despite the unrelenting rain, more than 100 people congregated on the corner of Franklin and Portland Avenue in Minneapolis last Tuesday to celebrate the launch of the South Quarter IV development project, which included a heartfelt speech from Mayor RT Rybak. The ceremony was hosted by Aeon, affordable housing developers and long-time partners in Hope… Read More →
Back in 1998, I was working on an article for the Land Stewardship Letter about how the lack of biodiversity in agriculture was threatening the agronomic, ecological, and economic future of Midwestern farming communities. One of the people I interviewed was Don Wyse, a respected University of Minnesota plant scientist who had recently helped coordinate… Read More →
